Peacemaker

Peacemaker Portrayed by Lena Headey Statistics Full Name Colonel Miranda Grace Venner Age 42 Height 5'6" Build Wiry and athletic Eyes Dark Grey Hair Dark Brown Factions HDC Occupation USAF Officer Alignment Hero Claim to Fame In military circles, Venner is know as a decorated, well respected officer. Outside of military circles, she's virtually unknown. Reputation Decorated soldier and officer with a reputation for getting the job done. Just don't ask how. That's classified. Biography Miranda Venner has a long and storied military history. Both her father and her grandfather were USAF (or its equivalent) officers and pilots. So, it was little surprise she followed in their footsteps. Similarly, both of them ended up associated with what would eventually become known as the Homeworld Defense Command. Of course, they knew it when it was called the "Human Defense Corps" (a name it still carries in some circles), but that's just semantics. The point is, the name Venner is a highly respected one within the HDC. Even among the 'best and brightest', Miranda's initiative was notable. Some figured she was going in competition with her forefathers, but really it was just that she got bored standing still for too long. Learning, doing, and taking action were far more palatable to her than maintaining the status quo. She was 25 when she accepted the invitation to transfer to a "Top Secret project critical to the security of the nation." Saying 'yes' was a no-brainer for her. And her surprise upon finding that her family had a history within the organization was considerable. As was her pride. (C'mon. Third generation service, man. Legacy!) She trained hard, worked hard, fought hard, and rose up through the ranks at a steady pace. Eventually, she led her own squad, circumventing the "no females in combat" rules because it was technically an "exploration and investigation" unit… and, occasionally, a diplomatic, first-contact unit. The fact is, though, by the time her squadron was doing its best work, the HDC was in serious straits, thanks to the DoD's decision to pull back on its funding and resources. They were able to keep going with some help from "allies" outside the normal chain of command — a fact kept largely hidden by HDC brass from the higher-ups — but the writing was on the wall. Chances were very good the HDC would be mothballed and its assets reallocated. Of course, Major-General Frank Mollozzi, the HDC CO, wasn't about to let it go down without a fight. Ultimately, however, his hand was forced and he had the choice to take retirement or face administrative strictures that would have ruined his career. He took retirement, but still managed to finagle appointing Venner as his successor. She was reluctant, at first, to accept the command, preferring retirement, herself. But, he convinced her to stay on as "a favor" to him. So, she did. Now, in an unexpected turn of fate, what was supposed to be a mothballing has turned into a ramp-up and, as the reality of alien existence has exploded into public consciousness, she is tasked with being the public face of the government's response to "extraterrestrial incursion". Just what she always wanted… no, really. To finally have her own capital-C command… and to have to play diplomat instead of just getting the job done. Don't say she hasn't had to give her all for her country. If you ask her, she's given it all and then some.

Character Details Personality Tough-as-nails woman-in-a-man's world, Venner is a career soldier and pilot. Her life is all about the mission, the corps, and duty. That said, she's not a blind rules-followerer. She's smart, savvy, and known for going 'off-book' whenever the situation demands. Further, she inspires her troops by leading from the front. She doesn't suffer fools gladly, but knows better than to jump to snap conclusions. You don't get to where she is without taking a few risks, knocking a few heads, and stepping on a few toes. Abilities Peak Physical Conditioning Venner is an active soldier, not a desk jockey. Sure, she leads her own command, but she does so from the front. So, she spends a lot of time making sure that her body is able to withstand any punishment that's thrown at it — particularly the irregular kind. Consequently, she's in excellent shape and has remarkable stamina and endurance, able to keep up with the best — providing they're not using super strength or super speed… 'cause, really, who can compete with that… ;) Finally, she's a skilled athlete who has had some training in unusual sports, like parkour and decathlon. Adamantium Grade Willpower Venner has a naturally strong will. She'd never have gotten to where she is in life without it. However, this is augmented by her military and black-ops training, which, particularly when combined with her physical training, makes her highly resistant to torture, psychological manipulation, and other forms of mental attack — including many psychic attacks. Note, a determined mid-level or any high-level telepath can certainly breach her defenses… but chances are very good she'll know they're there. She's not got much in the way of natural defense against magic, however. Military Training Venner has extensive military training and experience. She's one of the military's best and brightest, and has always been mindful of upgrading her skills and taking advantage of every opportunity that comes her way. Consequently, she's broken barriers and received specialized operations training normally withheld from female service personnel — much of it via in-house training with the HDC, given the military's general prohibition against women in combat roles. (Her 'official' role in the HDC is considered 'non-combat', though that's completely an administrative lie.) She's been a test pilot on many of the most cutting edge, top secret military projects, and a tactical reconnaissance operative in several black-ops campaigns. She has excellent marksmanship and weapons skills, crack hand-to-hand abilities — some of it independently developed outside of the military. Generally speaking, this is a woman you can drop behind enemy lines or even openly on the frontlines and she's going to come through blazing holy hell without a moment's pause. Further, she's had enough experience with "weird cosmic shit", now, that she and Ellen Ripley would have a great time swapping no-shit-there-I-was stories at the local space cantina. Tech Savvy So, here's the thing about working for a command that sees "weird cosmic shit" regularly: You get really, really comfortable with highly advanced, possibly alien (or hybrid-alien) technology. You also learn really quickly not to press random buttons until the eggheads say it's okay. And you pick up a few tricks along the way. Between that and the field ops training she's received, Venner knows her way around technology. She's not actually afraid to push buttons, though she prefers to have some educated guesses about what they do before she does. She can hotwire or jury rig most vehicles, hack mid-level computer security without the aid of special helper technology (which she totally relies on for high-level jobs), and field strip and repair tactical weapons and equipment well enough to at least keep them working in the crunch. (Unless, of course, they're completely fubarred. In which case… Shit.) Reluctant Diplomat Venner is, despite her tough-as-nails reputation, a remarkably good diplomat. At least, she can be when she wants to be. Good thing, too, since a lot of her job actually does involve "making nice" with… people. (Do politicians count as people… Some aliens do. Lawyers, not so much.) The point is, she can play the game, and play it well, when she has to. It just often comes as a surprise when she does. Advantages HDC As part of the HDC, Venner has access to all sorts of fancy equipment, much of it far more advanced than the run-of-the-mill stuff seen in the rest of the military. This is the stuff that can go toe-to-toe with alien invaders and superbeings, and keep a mundane human alive. (Though maybe not always unscathed.) Armor, weapons, vehicles, and other technology are all available to her — some of it of advanced alien design, some of it simply bleeding edge human design. Further, she's got 1000+ multi-talented men and women to back her up, with bases and outposts (secretly) all over the world… and even offworld. Unusual Contacts You don't spend twenty years trotting the globe and trekking the stars (so to speak) without making a host of contacts all over the place — in both high and low places. (Some places very high, some places very low.) Consequently, if Venner ever needs to 'go to ground', she's got a ready-made network to help her out. Further, when she needs 'independent intelligence', she has sources. Small Nest Egg You don't get rich on a soldier's salary. But, between danger pay and being off-world (or, at least, far enough from home that you don't have anything to spend your money on), Venner's collected a nice little nest egg. If she lives so long, her retirement could be very comfortable. So, while she's got a small apartment in town, she's also got a nice vacation property out in the sticks, far away from anything, where she can sit and fish (in an empty lake). Disdvantages Seen Too Much If she were allowed to, Venner would tell you, "Chestbursters ain't got nuthin' on some of the shit I've seen." To say that she has PTSD isn't quite accurate. She's not quite there yet, thanks to her remarkably strong will. But, still. She's seen way more than her share of "weird cosmic shit", and it's made her a little jaded, a lot wary, and somewhat reactionary. When shit hits the fan, her response is often shoot-first-ask-questions-only-when-you're-sure-they-won't-shoot-back. (She's got great reflexes and spectacular aim, not to mention an extremely healthy self-preservation instinct.) Too, she's lost a lot of friends and family in the fight. That type of thing tends to stick with you. Makes it hard to make friends outside of "those in the know". Because, well… there are just some things you can't talk about. You just have to know. Warrior Woman Let's face it, even in these enlightened times, there are still guys out there that think women just don't belong in the military. Hell, some of them are actually in the military, which means that, all her career, she's had to prove that anything they can do she can do just as well — if not better. That puts a lot of pressure on a girl. More than that, there are a lot of women out there that resent another woman's success. Usually, this being a fact of life many high-ranking women deal with, it wouldn't be worth mentioning. But, Venner is one of those women in the Establishment who's managed to take on the Old Boy's Club and win. This makes her a target of pundits, jealous colleagues and juniors, and critics on all sides of any given debate. Right wing, left wing, it doesn't much matter. Add to it the fact that she's something of a centrist and prone to keeping her own counsel, and it can just make life difficult sometimes. It's just lucky she's as good of a diplomat as she is… however reluctantly she may be so. Relationships Image Name Relation Information Character Name Friend Insert a description of the relationship here. Notes To learn more about the HDC, see: http://bitly.com/hdc-net Character Gallery Logs 2015 HDC RSS feed Back to: Current Cast